Never miss a local story.

“If the county commissioners can’t match that $2.7 million, then we'll have to make additional cuts,” Bedford said. “We want to hold them, but those positions would be up for consideration.”

At Thursday night’s board meeting, one recommendation was to reduce gifted specialists at the elementary and middle school level. Part-time academic specialist teachers at each school would also be cut, for a combined savings of $536,340.

Most board members seemed to support the recommendations. However, there was some concern that this could be an ongoing problem.

“In the future, this will be a new normal for us,” said Todd LoFrese, assistant superintendent. “We’re going to be wrestling with budgetary uncertainty in the future as well.”

Parents worried

Some parents of academically gifted children spoke out against cutting the program.

One parent said that academically gifted children are the ones who are at-risk and that making cuts in the program could create behavioral problems in those students.

One parent said those students need to be challenged or they would get bored with school.

With cost increases, and cutbacks at the state level, keeping up with teacher salaries has been difficult. In the past three years, the district has been covering a shortfall by using its fund balance, an account used to manage cash flow throughout the year and pay for unforeseen expenses. However, that money will no longer be available after this school year.

There is growing concern that the district may not be able to retain quality teachers and adequately recruit teachers from out-of-state.

“The pressure on us is definitely from the state,” LoFrese said. “We definitely do not want things to take steps backwards. But we're going to the do the very best we can with the funding and resources that are provided to us to support children and provide them with a great education”